Kids outdoor activities to enjoy during the warm weather. Pretend play idea using mud.

Outdoor activities are most sought after in spring and summer and why not? Some of the best open ended play are outdoor activities. Every spring I sort through my pile of toys and label a few for outdoor play. This year I put my play kitchen and some accessories for outside play in the hopes that the kids can use them for pretend play. To keep things exciting I also kept some play sand and water, two of the summers favorite play mates.

Hey it’s summer, water & sand play is fair !

The girls started off making mud pies and mud soup. What a fun way to start pretend play and sensory play all rolled in one. Mixing water and sand and squashing it between your hands is the best way to explore. Mud is a fantastic medium for sensory play and also in art activities. Have you tried mud painting?

While mud soup was fun, sand soup was even more fun. The girls ran around the backyard collecting leaves, grass and twigs to make the brew. With a few flowers from the garden and some leaves from my trees it all came together. Nature play and pretend play right in your own yard seems to get the kids in their element.

Some more shots of them enjoying the warm weather in our backyard. There were lots of scooping, pouring, mixing and tons of concocting. Remember our flower potions? We are positive that we are going to engage in many more fun and exciting outdoor activities this summer.

But soon the atmosphere turned into more of an greater pretend play session. It was a spa day after all. It was funny to see simple play like this also worked around problem solving skills. She needed to soak her feet in the bowl but realized it was small. Instead of the usual “mommy I need a big bowl” she took matters into her own hands.

She made some quick changes to her pots and pans and she brought out some old take-out containers that I had saved up for play. Do you save up take home containers for play? They make some of my best play collection for oobleck and other messy play.

My oldest made two potions of the foot scrub/soaking solution for her and her sister. She’s promised me that it will be my turn next after her relaxing day.

Our pretend mud spa.

One of the reasons  I prefer open ended play is because of the countless opportunities that presents itself to direct the play. Open ended play promoted imaginative skills, realizing the needs of the hour and thinking quick on your feet to pull off a self directed play. What more could I ask for? It was great to see the little one follow through big sister’s foot steps to create and act the scene.

 Thanks for reading.

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